There's activity here at almost every hour of the day. Impact guns can be heard with their shrieking rumble while crew call back and forth, their voices carrying just above the din of the work here. What's readily apparent is that this is the main Hangar Bay for the Vipers, the distance going back further than the other two Bays which are separated by thick, hydraulically rolled blast doors. On each side of the room, near the Fore end, six Viper tubes are ready for quick deployment of the Kharon's Viper squadron. Lining the rest of Hangar Bay One, each Mark Two and Mark Seven has its own place to be kept with a small red toolchest that holds the minimum of required equipment for quick maintenance.

Along the floor, each individual Viper bay is painted off with a single hashed yellow and black stripe. A deep red line denotes important electrical conduits and access ports just below the deck while a bright blue line follows up walls and across the floor to tell where the Tylium lines run in case of fire. Outlets along the wall for the fuel as well as corrugated rubber piping stand ready for use, fluorescent yellow firefighting gear kept in plain sight for easy access nearby.

As soon as he is docked and drawn back the tall Lieutenant is waiting , as cockpit is opened and his helmet is ripped off of him by a rather enthusiastic deck crew. A deep breath and up he stands, looking from his bird, out and on over the deck. A grin starting to show, before he's climbing down. Steps are quick as he is making way to where the Raptors are. Eyes looking about, but damned if Hale doesn't have that bounce, and swagger back into his step.

Leda gets out of his Viper and walks over to the Raptors as well, he wants to visually see that a series of people are okay, including a certain pilot. Now that he is no longer flying Tinman is gone and a very eager Castor is present, he closes his eyes and says a silent prayer to who or whatever it is he prays too. He then opens his eyes to watch and wait.

Jules went quiet on the trip back. Once the ship lands, she speaks up once again and says, happily, "Home sweet home." She looks to Roubani and grins, then starts to unbuckle, mostly getting off the craft herself. Stowing her weapon over her shoulder, she stands on the hangar deck and glances around at all the people.

Dutch is gathered up by his med team, most likely to be shuffled on to another one and taken on off towards Medical. One thumb is pressed up in the direction of one of the Corpsman quickly coming to give his vitals. With that, he is off. Ship him to a bed.

Thorn hops out of the Raptor as the hatch slides open, and looks around the hangar, as though he doesn't quite believe where he is. A quick look back into the ship at Sam and Fenris, and then he's looking around, waiting for the medics to arrive for the wounded.

Daphne steps down out of the farthest Viper, the woman definitely not one of the Kharon crew, but recognizable for anyone who may have followed politics back when the colonies were alive and well. She steps quietly off onto the deck, respectful, drinking it all in as she watches the pilots and marines reunite with their military family…

Eddie gets up on her tippy toes, scanning weary faces and searching. Nope. Nope. C'mon…she lowers back down to her flat boots, then edges around a medical team so she doesn't get in the way. Wait. There. "RUBIX!" Eddie calls out.

Timon can't really climb out of the Raptor with a bad leg, but he does manage to stabilize himself by grabbing onto a willing Marine who lifts him out from Foxbat-Seven's hatch. He's half-carried, half-pushed out of the way of the Kharon's birds and set down a few steps to the right of the stairwell leading to the lower decks. "Thanks," Ivory says, tapping his savior on her back. Then he sits quietly, waiting for a medic, one leg extended and both eyes closed. Never has the stench of burnt oil and scorched metal smelled so fine. The hellos will wait; he wants this moment for himself.

Pike makes her way into the hangar, with pretty much every enlisted medic under her command in step behind her, carrying field kits and stretchers. "Right!" she says to the lot of them. "Criticals get evaluated first, walking wounded escorted to sickbay, no more than half of you lot leave this room at one time! Let's get to work!" Her lab coat flaps at her feet and she looks for the worst cases.

Mars' viper looks like it's been through hell and back. But. The pilot is fine. As soon as the canopy is popped, she has her helmet ready to hand off to the deck person, claiming their hand for a shake and patting the man on the back. She even, maybe, possibly, could be smiling. Just a little. "That was damned close."

Kai clambers out of Foxbat-7 somewhere in the midst of the influx of crew. Legacy's in the mix, too, and his eyes briefly find her before he hops down off the raptor's wing and hits deck. Sweet, beautiful deck. Praise the gods. With all the people milling about and shouting to loved ones, it's all he can do to hang back against the bird's flank and try to get his bearings for a moment.

Only a few moments after the others get off a ship so does another strange and unusual face, that being of Alexander. Alex runs a hand through his hair after taking two steps and slips to the side, looking around the ship. "Wow, definately a festive reception." He comments under his breath to anyone who might be within ears range.

"Huh." A step down from the Raptor, and Dmitri moves off to one side to get out've the way— shortly followed by a /dog/ of all things, that scrambles down after the scruffy fellow to heel by his side, half-hiding behind his legs as he looks around at all the interesting sights and smells. Reassuring Cerberus with a scratch to the ears, the man watches everything with a dubious eye, "So this's a spaceship." It's very technological. He mistrusts it on principle.

Fingers' landing is textbook. No adventures in horror flights for her today. The leg is apparently all healed up, and she's out of her viper ASAP, waving off the assistance of Aircrew Specialists as she removes her own helmet, and tosses it onto the seat of her viper. She immediately drags down the zipper of her flight suit, and rips off her gloves. She's a bit sweaty.

George disembarks a raptor looking a mite shaky. She's barely slept in two weeks. She makes a beeline for the tool room, to hide herself with her kit. One can almost hear her faceplant once inside, once the hatch is shoved shut. Hermit.

Roubani gives Jules a half-smile that doesn't quite touch his eyes. He straightens his shoulders with the last reserve of the utterly exhausted and lifts his chin slightly, stepping out of the way for medics to start swarming the injured. Only one person on this boat calls him Rubix, so there's no doubt he knows who just shouted towards him. He makes a quarter turn, looking for the source and finding it. "Morales. You're okay."

Antioch pops on out of his Viper, and stretches. "Well, that was all very fun," he drawls. "Keep me entertained for a while. Now what?" He glances at the various new people and returnees, as if expecting something to explode from someone's chest or something.

Samantha is finally loaded out of the Raptor, on a gurney as she's certainly not walking any more. Other than being covered in blood and white as a sheet, she doesn't look too bad, but the fact she's lost enough of the red stuff to pass out cold even at the end of this all means it's bad enough. No happy reunions for Samantha other than with a surgical table.

Eddie practically sprints towards Roubani, undeterred by her flightsuit, and only barely managing not to bowl anyone else over in the mean time. 'You're okay' he says, like /she/ was the one stranded down on a hostile planet for nearly two weeks. When she reaches him, that personal bubble of his be damned. He doesn't like to be touched? Frak that. Eddie's going to wrap him up in a full body hug and if he doesn't faint first, he's going to get a big ol' smackaroo right on the lips.

Steps are sure and certain towards Kai. "Sir!" barks the tall Lieutenant, as he straightens to attention. Hand coming up quickly, as he stands there right before CAG. Salute is held for as long as Spider will allow Hale to do so. "Welcome, Home sir." The grin wide there and teeth flashed. "They're yours-sir." meaning the Air Wing. Thank the gods the expression would read. After that bit of official work is done, Hale's turning his gaze right towards Legacy. And eyes Hold for a rather long moment. Good to have them home. Yes.

Fenris waits for the worse off to get out before she clambors, awkwardly, out of Foxbat-4, favoring a leg who's bandages are quite red by now. She accepts the hands offered her way and tries to get out of the way.

All of a sudden, Komnenos is tired, so tired. He slumps down, leaning against his Raptor's wing as the crew is reunited. There's no mistaking that little quirk on his face, though; he's smiling wanly as he watches the emotional reunions proceed up and down the hangar deck.

Jules spots Alexander in her deck-watching and ignoring the flappy-coated Pike, moves towards the Pegasus refugee, stopping at his side. She might even scuff her toe on the deck as she glances sidelong at the man. "So, I was thinking."

Leda smiles as he spots familiar faces, yup, Papabear is alive and he knew Kai would make it, freaking doubters. He steps back for a moment as he spots a dog, seriously, a dog on this ship, civilians are strange. He isn't disapproving of it though, after all it is nice to see an animal on the ship. He looks over at Antioch and watches the pilot exit before he says, "Good flying." His eyes then lock on to Sam and he frowns, well, he got Kai back and it looks like he will be reading to Sam while he waits for her to recover.

Pike's abrupt entrance breaks Timon's self-imposed reverie, as the pilot picks himself off the ground with the help of two storage lockers — one short, one tall. It's against these lockers that he waits for an escort: either one of the enlisted medics or a pilot who can walk. In the meantime, he breathes in, then breathes out, then breathes in again. Mmm. This is heaven — if not for the pain shooting through his leg, which has escalated from condition three to … two, one point five? Yeah. Ow.

Alex blinks as he hears a voice nearby and looking over at Jules, flashes her a smile. "Uh-oh Private. Thinking is the first step down a long path. I tend to avoid it as much as I can, gets in the way of all those good natural instincts." There's a twinkle in his eyes when he speaks though, his attention shifting towards the Marine fully. "Thinking about what?"

Salazar steps off of Fox-something, once Dutch is out and loaded up to Medical. She relinquishes her weapon as one of the MPs waiting in the wings comes over to request it. No armed civilians aboard.

Oh, right. The rifle. Dmitri considers the MP that's giving him an expectant look and tapping a foot, and he unslings it, handing it over with the casual notation, "Pulls to the right."

Cripes, from centurions right into cooties. Roubani might have flinched but in this chaos it's impossible to tell. And did he just get kissed? Like on the mouth? he has absolutely no idea what to do about this except let the few shreds of human instinct he has control his arms. The left, yes, comes up and settles around Eddie's upper back, tightening for quite a few long moments.

Kai's eyes flicker over the faces in the crowd, pausing a moment on one or two— longer on others. Samantha gets a long look as she's strapped into a gurney by a waiting medic, as does Dutch. But they're in good hands, and there seems to be someone else he's searching for.. there. As Hale comes to a halt in front of him, Kai straightens instantly. The salute's returned, and held for a good few seconds before it's dropped. And for once, the Captain's grinning as well. It's a tired grin, but the good sort of tired. "Lieutenant. It's good to be home." He doesn't just offer his hand, or a clap on the shoulder. He actually puts his arms around the taller pilot in a rare embrace. If he caught the long look across to Thea, he gives no notice. "You keep them in one piece for me, Rabbit?"

Pike spots Sam as she's offloaded and gives her a quick examination. "Dear oh dear, you're set for the table, love." She looks to the medic attending to her. "I want her prepped for the O.R. and Dr. Locke woken if she isn't already." She gives Sam an assuring smile. "Patch-up's gonna be a breeze, sweets. Promise, that." She resists the urge to give her wounded arm a pat, and goes to examine the other arrivals.

Eddie squeezes Roubani one last time, hesitant to stop her cling of him just in case he might disappear into a wisp of smoke. "You're back. You're really back." She says, forehead pressed against his, her voice sounding a bit incredulous. Finally her hands fall away, giving him back his privacy of person again as she takes a half step back. "Sight for sore frakking eyes." The smile on her face couldn't be more wide. As if remembering their surroundings, and recognizing there's a medic nudging her out of the way, Eddie gives a bit of a laugh and glances around. "Gods…" She sighs.

"Mess Hall, 1900 hours, tomorrow," Jules tells Alexander, starting to walk away from the man, just a few steps towards the nearest medic is all.

Thea moves through the crowds after she's checked on the rest of her pilots. She glances around again, eyes falling first on Kai, then searching for someone else. Perhaps the rest of the Riders?

Salazar grabs one of the MPs, politely of course, "I need an escort to Medical, cowboy. The sucking chest wound may not be sucking any longer, but I feel like shit and the doctor on the surface has the hands of an arthritic Gemenese whore." She pauses as he replies. "Oh, you're from Gemenon. Cheers." Cough. "Shall we?" She straightens, and follows the MP toward the stairs.

Roubani almost wobbles forward when Eddie lets go of him. Whoa, who took his crutch away? He steadies up, exhaling a long and quiet breath as he looks around the hangar bay as well. "Gods. Yes, gods. What more is there possibly to say."

A Hug?! Something Hale has not expected, but his arms coming around and wrapping about the Older pilot's torso as he gives the Captain a damned fine back-breaking hug. A flex of his arms, before he finally releases guy. And the laughter that is rippling from his throat is a damned happy,loud and boisterous sound. "Aye, mate I did. I'll fill you in later." meaning of what he has missed, but for now, tonight is for happiness and all that. With that he releases the CAG. "Bloody great, me mucker. Bloody." A nod as he pats on by Kai, in search of another pilot-it seems. There's a lot who've returned.

Alex passes off his rifle as an MP approaches, nodding and smiling towards them. The motion costs him as he turns around just in time to see Jules retreating away a bit towards the medics. "Unless I'm in a brig or lockdown, I'll see you then Sunshine." The man laughs a bit as he shakes his head then turns to look back around the hangar bay.

Timon waves to his commanding officer, that loopy grin still plastered all over his normally quite somber face. He's got no words for her, not at this distance — he did quite enough yelling down there on the surface, that's for sure. It's quiet time for the lieutenant, whose chest rises and falls in a slow, regular rhythm as he breathes.

After a long moment just slumped against the wing and watching the reunion, Thorn finally stands up and begins threading through the crowd himself, taking it all in. The hard deck under his feet, the smell of engine fuel, and the familiar orange jumpsuits of the deck apes. It's all a little much at the moment; there were times on Scorpia when he could have swore he'd never see this again.

"Damned right you will. Oh eight hundred tomorrow morning." Karim sure doesn't waste any time getting back to business. He slaps Hale's shoulder in return, and the pair part ways as he threads off to greet the other pilots. Eddie, distracted as she may be, seems to be next. "Missed you, Mooner," he tells the young woman with a scruff of his fingers through her short hair and a sideways smile.

Fenris looks around as she starts making a bit more of a shamble toward the stairs with the help of one of the marines. She looks back at the reunited family, though it's warmth doesn't touch her face. Instead, she continues toward sickbay where, Gods willing, she won't pass out before getting to the table.

Mars pushes up out of her cockpit and slides down the sides of it's ladder, then moves along towards the rear, blue eyes on the engine and the large gaping holes in it. "I've seen worse," she notes, glancing sidelong at the deckhand with her helmet. The deckhand just stares.

Legacy sketches a salute to Ivory, offering him a small smile. Her usual smile isn't in evidence at the moment, however. Someone seems to be in professional mode - at least for the moment. Or perhaps the shell shock has just caught up with her.

Leda reaches into one of his flighsuit pockets and he pulls out a camera, someone has to document this. The camera is nothing fancy, in fact it is black and white and it uses film. He then takes a picture of the whole scene. It would still seem like he is waiting for someone else to arrive from the Raptor but for now the picture keeps him busy.

"Now I feel naked," Dmitri grumbles under his breath after the rifle's carried off— it was one of the military's weapons anyway, so it's not as if he didn't have to give it back eventually anyhow. He drops down to a slight crouch beside Cerberus, petting the slightly anxious hound as he watches the medics run aount, various reunions, and all manner of busy-ness from his out of the way spot.

Just as that smile has bloomed to its fullest potential on Eddie's lips, it quickly gets smacked right back off like someone just slapped her. Her eyes lock on someone else in the crowd, and her color drains, turning her dusky appearance into a sick palour. Her jaw hangs slack, and she stammers quietly to Roubani. "Iii…i…I..think I just. Saw a ghost." Kai skims her hair just then, and she turns and is once more pulled out of a dream. Or a nightmare. "Bossman!" Yup. Kai gets a hug too, dammit, and sigh of relief as she takes a big inhale of a man who might not have showered for a few weeks. Frak it. "Missed me? Are you suffering from blood loss?"

Kassia slowly unstraps herself from her seat and stands up it took her a few minutes after everyone left to get everything shut down and squared away. finally she's at the hatch, though she makes no move to step down instead she watches the comotion from the door way, leaning against it. She looks tired, and the joy that she should feel, just doesn't come, not yet maybe when she has the energy.

Jules pokes a hole through her armor and gives one of the medic's a wink, then starts for the stairs. Onward, to medical.

Pike says to her senior NCO medic. "I'm going below to prep for surgery. You're in charge here till everyone's offloaded." She then heads in a brisk sprint for the stairwell.

Finally, a medic sees Timon leaning against the crates like the wallflower he is. The man offers him a shoulder, which he takes with more than a little bit of gratitude. Then it's down the stairs he goes, one among a parade of wounded soldiers heading down for treatment.

Hale continues moving, coming through those who are all moving and hugging. One hand reaching out for the back of the Raptor Captain. Fingers to give a light grip on Legacy's shoulder, that is if he can catch up to her before she flees one way. "Hey." his voice loud enough to be heard most likely. Hale's goal, turn the woman towards him, hopefully without much dramatics-or interruption.

"What?" Roubani's voice is easily missed, it's nearly a whisper. "Are you al-…" Kai reaches them in the middle of what he was asking, and he lets the half-question hang. He looks away from Kai, back around the hangar bay again and watching people file out. Happiness, not quite. Maybe it's just stuffed under the huge glaze of shock still. Giving the pilot reunion some space, he drifts a few steps away, watching Timon leave and then glancing at Hale and Legacy.

Antioch nods absently to Castor in reply to the other's comment. "Thanks. Not too bad yourself," he says. He watches the crowd thin out a little, relaxing as things become a tiny bit less hectic. Shrugging, he starts to give his Viper the once-over, making sure it's shut down and looking good.

Thea turns at the hand on her shoulder, a brow arched. The look she gives him, however, softens when she realizes who it is. "You sounded good on the radio, Rabbit," she says quietly, lifting her chin slightly to look up at him. "Good work out there." She studies the man's face, head canting a bit.

Kai was about to continue past, but he's snagged by the persistent arms of Edwina Morales. Which he'd never dare to actually call her, to her face. He smells like sweat, dirt, and pine needles. But he has showered within the last day; thank the gods for small mercies. "Not yet. But keep that up and I might- ow." Yeah, he's got a few war wounds. Roubani is watched for a second or two as he moves away, with an odd look on his face. Bittersweet reunion, it looks like.

Thorn's still threading, as most everyone seems occupied at the moment. That's all right; Thorn's content to wander for the moment, a sober expression on his face. He looks about, as the reunions continue around him; his own presence almost seems hollow, in a way, but he's nevertheless pleased to finally be back, and it shows, even if he's not all zomgbiggrinsquee about it; the careworn slump to his shoulders that had begun in the bunker in Scorpia is gone.

Leda looks over at Kassia and he takes a picture of her leaning against the Raptor, now it would seem that everyone he cares about is on the ship and safe and sound. He then looks over at Antioch, "Thank you, Screamer." He then begins walking toward Kai and Hale. He then looks over at Roubani before turning back to Kai where he says, "You alright, sir?"

Daphne us lingering towards the edge of this all, rather overwhelmed, quiet… studying and thoughtful. At least she's been smart enough not to demand to see the commander now, even if she's doing her best to look proper and professional standing on the edge of the deck.

As folks begin to filter out, Alex starts to look about and meander his way in the direction of Kai. He doesn't approach the returned CAG quite yet, instead hanging back while his wing take their chance to greet him back.

Jupiter shoves her gloves shoved into the pocket of her flight suit. She peels off the top, and wraps the arms around her waist. Her hair is tugged free from a tail with a short motion, then she combs it back up with her fingers, and re-secures it. She casts a look across the Hangar Bay, nods once to herself, then turns for the hatch. Her breath is blown out in a whoosh.

Eddie laughs and parts with the once more CAG, giving him a jubilant clap on the shoulder. "I even behaved." She tells Kai, but something catches her attention again. And she's off without a word of apology or an explanation. "There. Again." She tells Roubani as she passes in a rush, darting around a person until she's almost toe to toe with Alex. "Nikolo? Alexander Nikolo?" She asks, as if she's unsure of her own two eyes.

Hale just looks down, well because he looks down at a majority of pilots. But all the same Hale smiles back. "You look good to me right here. I'm bloody glad you made it.." But that doesn't seem to even express it, because he is tilting his head. Lips purse, for a second, as if he would say more, but Frak-it. He's not-instead there's a tilt of his head there back to her cant. "Ahh Frak-it. I bloody missed you." muttered, before in the heat of rashness, he goes to land a kiss right there- on the lips.

As Eddie starts to rush off, Roubani looks back at her. And then Kai. The eye contact only lasts a second and is tough to read, the blinds down firmly over those windows to the soul. Saying nothing, he looks back at Eddie and Alex and then exhales quietly through his nose. His watch is given a glance. Already thinking about shift…it's mechanical, it's focused, and it keeps his mind from processing too much in a rush.

If Thea's surprised, she doesn't show it. In fact, in front of the gods and everyone else, she slides her arms around Hale's neck and leans up on tiptoe, hugging the Raptor pilot tightly. It's not a massive PDA - they're too well behaved for that. But there's still the fact that one of the Viper pilots is kissing the Raptor Captain, and damned if she isn't kissing him back, surrounded by the crowd on deck.

Komnenos is looking around when he sees Hale swoop in for a kiss with Thea; he stiffens. Was that a flash of jealousy? Perhaps, but it fades quickly; it's an emotional time, after all, and besides, Anton and Thea had already had that particular discussion on the surface, with both of them agreeing that there was nothing between them, although a guy can always hope, right? He shrugs minutely, going back to his silent prowl. An emotional time, indeed.

Alex is looking over at the public display of gross with a small smile on his lips. He can't help being a natural romantic at heart. But when he hears his name from a female voice, instinct kicks in and he just shoots off a response. "It depends who is asking. If this is another claim my hearing is bad, no sounds an awful lot like no I can't take anymore." Then he turns and looks at Morales with a rather blank look in his eyes.

Amongst the last off the Raptors is the durable Ashe Swift. The Marine is moving under his own power after a little pain medicine and is shaking off medics. "I'll be fine, just let me get my feet under me and I'll make my way to sickbay." Shaking his head he looks across the deck, at home, and manages a small smile.

Hale holds that kiss for as long as she lets him, however, when it breaks he remains close for a moment. One hand is moving to catch her cheek just so. And he bloody smiles brighter than he did on landing. "I'll let you see your people.." murmured out, before he is moving on from her, after that lingering moment. He will find her later, again. Seems like an emotional time. Aye. But a fine one to have everyone back. Home, sweet-home.

*CLICK* goes the camera as Castor takes a picture of the smooching pair and why not this is picture worthy. He isn't the physically touchy feely type right now, in fact, he hasn't been recently at all - if anything he has been distant but at this moment the pictures are his way of reaching out to everyone. He then looks over as Ashe exits, well, looks like fight night commentary will continue after all.

Signing off on the damage paperwork, Mars casts one last look at her bird's engine and then starts to walk off towards the staircase. She undoes the binding keeping her hair in a pony tail and shakes it free, running her hands through it as she steps.

Kai doesn't seem bothered in the slightest by Eddie's abrupt departure. He's on his way to greet Castor next. The poor pilot is the recipient of a solid clap to the back of his shoulder, and then Kai's hand swept through the man's hair. "Still kicking, unfortunately for you, Tinman." He isn't stopping to talk for long; he's got too many pilots to greet, and only so much energy left before he undoubtedly collapses. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots Hale and Thea.. and the kiss that transpires shortly after. It's simply watched for a few moments, his expression difficult to read. And then he's moving, again. Toward Jupiter this time.

Dmitri exhales a quiet, dry chuckle of his own at something, scratching Cerberus's head and then moving to head for the deck's side. "C'mon, boy. Let's get out've everyone's way.

Eddie's jaw squares up at the answer, and when he's finally looking at her with that blank look in his eyes, the color returns to her features. As does her temper. "You don't remember me?" A pause. A beat. Just long enough for her to ball her fist. "You mother frakker…" And with that? Eddie delivers a left hook she's been practicing, thanks to Hale. An emotional time indeed.

Roubani is moving too, having watched the kiss between Thea and Hale with the faintest of smiles. It doesn't quite touch his eyes, but it's there briefly before it disappears again, leaving nothing behind. He starts for the hatch, the noise and chaos getting to be a bit much.

Before he pulls away, Thea reaches up to hold his hand to her cheek for just a moment, watching his face. She nods to his words, seeming to relax a little. "I'll be in medical," she tells him quietly. Then she, herself, turns to leave - likely to head to Sickbay.

Jupes is just hitting the hatch to the stairwell as Kai sights on her. Anyone else hear that da-dum da-dum music? Jupes neither. Off she goes like one of them thar innocent annoying kids on a banana shaped raft.